​A teacher at Kenneth Masekela Secondary School, Jessie Brooms, describes the bullying and gang incidents as despicable and, if not rigorously addressed, will destroy the future of many young people.
The 51-year-old said this on the sidelines of Gangsterism and Bullying Dialogue organized by the Gauteng Department Social Development at Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre on Wednesday.

Brooms called on parents, law enforcement agencies, and community members to step up and help teachers in the fight against gangsterism and bullying, especially in school premises.

She said school premises are there for learning, not expression of masculinity to other learners.

Brooms who also serve as a Coordinator of the school-based support team (SBST), said she had seen what bullying does at school and how it affects learners in a bad way.

“It is terrible because some are not coping and they end up taking their own lives, other learners’ academic performance drops drastically, while it brings fear to others and they would never be able to come to school without the escort of their family members”, she added. Brooms said her worse experience was in 2022 where a learner came to her office to report that she was being bullied and while they were still arranging to have a meeting with the culprit hours later, they received news that the learner had committed suicide.

“As a parent, I sometimes feel like I failed a child, I feel like I should have acted much quicker to save her dear life.”

She added that those who are easily recruited into gangs most of the time are those who are not academically strong, and classes frustrate them, so they end up joining gangs. Brooms said the rivalry of gangs in some schools is scary to an extent that teachers are afraid of learners.

Brooms said at times that these gangs prevent other learners from attending classes because they don’t like being in class themselves. It is also said that these notorious groups demand money for protection from other learners.

Brooms said we also learned that the notorious or dominant group that is terrorizing learners in the region is called Amabutho, which is also alleged to be linked to the hostel gangs.

“There are different groups with different names and some we notice them through their attires, and we urge parents to also take note of such. We also plea with parents to work with schools to deal with this scourge hence”, she added.

Broom said the scourge of gangs does affect them immensely as teachers, and it brings fear to especially young educators.

However, she said through their committees and working together with SAPS, they managed to neutralize some of the group’s traction so that they did not get out of control.